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I don't think anyone mentioned "Children of the Lamp," which my kids and I enjoyed. "Inkheart" and Inkspell" are good - I'm looking forward to the third book.
I loved Joan Aiken books, and there's also Sid Fleischman. He's fun to read - possibly a bit childish for your daughter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I agree with Diana Wynne Jones and Gail Carson Levine - I've read books by both authors. There are Chrestomanci stories in two volumes - those were the first books I read by her.
I'm going to pay attention to this thread - I've got a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old who could benefit from this advice. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Let's see: Barker - Abarat books (some disgusting things, nothing sexual though) Beagle - The Last Unicorn (if she's seen the movie this is a good read) Hanley - Seer and the Sword (plus its companion books) Nicholson - Wind Singer trilogy (two thumbs up) Baird - Willowmere trilogy (easy read from Canada)
If she liked Redwall: Adams - Watership Down (rabbits) Jarvis - Dark Portal quartet (rodents) Clement-Davies - Fire Bringer (deer) and The Sight (wolves)
Already mentioned that I also liked: Nix's books (Abhorsen trilogy & Shade's Children have some sex in them) Duane's Young Wizards series Christopher's Tripods series (start with The White Mountains) Haddix's Shadow Children series (easy but fun) Patterson's Maximum Ride books (also easy)
quote:Originally posted by OlavMah: Tanith Lee. I find her kind of hard to read as an adult, but it reads like some of the stuff I liked when I was 12.
As a precaution, not all of Tanith Lee is YA-appropriate. I read Dark Dance and Personal Darkness when I was going through a slight vampire phase in high school, and I found them quite disturbing, more because of the...
**spoiler warning**
...incestuous sex in the first book, and the barely-teenaged result of said incestuous sex lusting after her (grand)father in the second book. The sex itself didn't bother me, but the incest was a bit much for me at the time.
**end spoilers**
I haven't read either book since then, but I'd probably not be as disturbed if I read them again now. But unless my memory is exaggerating things, I'm pretty sure that they're intended to be at least somewhat disturbing.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I also really enjoyed The Goose Girl and it's seqeul Enna Burining By Shannon Hale (who also wrote another good one Princess Academy, I think) I read about them in an OSC review and have them on hold for my own pre-teen to read this summer. (Great thread Belle BTW)
I will also second The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, there is a sequel but I can't think of the title for some reason. From what was said, I think that I enjoyed it more than the other person who mentioned it.
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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this may be a bit advanced for her, but I started on Anne McCaffrey soemtime in late gradeschool/early middleschool and loved it. of course I also read Mists of Avalon in 6th grade so I'm not the greatest representation of typical reading ages (though I will say a fairly graphic depiction of incestuous ritual sex is somewhat disturbing for a 6th grader, so I wouldnt reccomend repeating that one, assuming she could get through the 900 pages)
but yeah, Anne McCaffrey has a ton to choose from that are from my recollection pretty tame and very well done. Lots of fantasy in the Pern books and a decent chunk of Sci-Fi in the Rowan series (and others that I havent gotten to yet)
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Oh this is tricky. I'm guessing your daughter is a fairly avid and avanced reader. My parents stopped screening my books at about the age of 12. I think that was about when I read the Clan of the Cave Bears and subsequent books. I recall skipping an awful lot of pages because I just wasn't interested in that.
I'm trying to think of some of the stuff I really really liked. Does your daughter only like fantasy. I recall some great historical fiction by Ann Rinaldi. I also liked Avi. But those might be too easy.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Diana Wynne Jones is a fantastic writer; I've read nearly everything she's written and loved most of it. Fire and Hemlock is my favorite; the Chrestomanci books are all delightful; Archer's Goon and Power of Three are quite good fun.
I second (third? fourth?) Watership Down--it was one of those books I didn't read for ages because my mum mentioned the words "psychic bunny rabbit" and totally put me off, but it was amazing once I did read it.
If she doesn't mind reading books that may be aimed a little younger, Hilary McKay has written four most excellent books about a wacky artsy family that I read last year and loved. They are, in order, Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star, Permanent Rose, and Caddy Ever After. So funny.
I was never a big fan of Anne of Green Gables, but L.M. Montgomery wrote a bunch of other books that I simply adored. The Emily of New Moon books (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest) were favorites of mine when I was younger. Jane of Lantern Hill and The Blue Castle are both funny, touching books as well (and The Blue Castle has one of the funniest family dinner scenes of all time).
I also remember discovering Agatha Christie around that age--it was one of those things you dream about, finding an author you like who's written shelves full of books. I remember Agatha Christie being a bit of a revelation, the way you were genuinely surprised at who the murderer was (I being raised on Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children).
If she likes plays at all, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail and Inherit the Wind are lovely.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, if she hasn't read it. Everybody in the whole world should read The Scarlet Pimpernel. And Rafael Sabatini can be fun if she likes the swashbuckling piratey thing.
If you can possibly find it, Travel Far, Pay No Fare, by Anne Lindbergh, is a lark.
Okay, I'm done. (For now.) (I love recommending books to people.)
Jen
P.S. Oh, and Behind the Attic Wall.
Posts: 910 | Registered: May 2000
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Eventualy, one must trust your duagther's librarian. Perhaps I am biased, as my librarian throughout elementary and middle school was wondeful.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by TheGrimace: but yeah, Anne McCaffrey has a ton to choose from that are from my recollection pretty tame and very well done. Lots of fantasy in the Pern books and a decent chunk of Sci-Fi in the Rowan series (and others that I havent gotten to yet)
The Rowan series is not appropriate for a typical sixth grader. I don't recall exactly how graphic it is, but I recall being shocked at the time I read it, which I'm guessing was 7th or 8th grade.
I think a lot of the time it's hard to remember what was shocking when you were that young. I read David Eddings in 6th grade and was uncomfortable reading most of the Mallorean. Rereading it now, I'm amazed at how far Eddings goes out of his way to avoid being racy.
Edit: I just reread this thread, and discovered that I'd already talked about Eddings in it. I'm going to leave this here, since it makes sense in this context too.
posted
Yeah, the Rowan series has some sex, some of it a bit explicit but not on the order of the Jean Auel series explicit. There's also a homosexual character who has sex with a straight character, but I mean my daughter's not so sheltered that she doesn't know there are both straight and gay people and that both types of people have sex (though not usually with each other. )
She's 13 now, by the way. We tried another Tamora Pierce novel and she came to me afterwards and told me she really wished Pierce would leave the sex out of her stories, she really wasn't interested in one character's lesbian relationship.
She's finished the Abhorsen series by Nix and I myself have read Shade's Children and nixed it. (yes pun intended)
What's funny is myself as a writer. When I started this thread the story in my mind was going to completely avoid any mention of sex. Now, almost a year after I started this thread I'm wrestling with how to handle the situation that my characters have now found themselves in. Well, a major factor is I made the protagonist older than originally intended. Funny how stories will take you in directions you didn't originally intend to head.
Once again, I do appreciate all the suggestions. ONe puzzles he, however - I see tons of you enjoyed Diana Wynne Jones. I've read one book by her and did not like it at all. Maybe I just made a bad choice and should give her another chance? I can't even remember the title now, it was completely forgettable.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I never understood why people liked The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword, either, but has she read Rose Daughter and Beauty by Robin McKinley? They're phenomenal. Dearskin and Sunshine are definately not age appropriate, though.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote: [Life of Pi is} genius, postmodernism without pretension; wisdom without sanctimony: this book should be required for every seventh grade class, for, along with Animal Farm, LotR, Catch-22, Gilgamesh, the Oydessey, The Fixer and The Once and Future King, it forms the basis of a great middle school reading list: what Johnny Tremain and A Wrinkle in Time are for Elmentary, it is for middle school.
posted
I realized I never gave actual recommendations in this thread...
I second Wise Child and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Wise Child also has a companion/prequel, Juniper, that I've been dying to read for years and haven't found yet.
I also loved Beauty, and still do. Rose Daughter was good, not my favorite, but good.
Things written in the 19th century and early 20th were written at a time when literature was supposed to be cleaner. Even the really racy stuff from back then wasn't too explicit (although I still don't recommend it for younger readers; sometimes there are drugs, once in a while an affair.)
I loved Sherlock Holmes, Anne of the Anne books, the Emily books also by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and since all of those were aimed at people older than I was at the time, I got years of re-reads out of them (in fact, I still re-read them; Montgomery is an absolutely incredible author.) Alcott tends to be simpler, and I'm less and less enamored of her writing style as I get older, and she's awfully blatant about the preaching she does, but her children's books are wonderful nonetheless, the stories can't be beat, and, well, what girl can grow up without reading Little Women? It shouldn't happen! (My personal favorite is Rose in Bloom.) Classics like The Time Machine and Robinson Crusoe continue to be in print because they're just plain good.
I found that no matter what age the books were aimed at, it was the ones with really wonderful characters that I was drawn to. That's why I abandoned the Sweet Valley Twins and Babysitters' Club books fairly quickly. They were fine for a fast read, but not something that was going to become a favorite.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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